News: New private home sales down 30% m-o-m in April

May 16, 2019

Data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday (May 15) shows that 444 private homes were launched for sale in April, down 75 percent from 1,812 units in the previous month, reported The New Paper.

Only three new projects were launched last month, compared with 10 in the month before.

These three launches made up just 3.8 percent of the 735 units sold the previous month, with most sales coming from previous launches.

With the lack of major launches, sales of private homes by developers dropped by about 30 percent to 735 private homes in April, compared to 1,054 units moved in the previous month, but almost identical to the 733 units sold during the same month last year.

JLL senior director of research and consultancy Ong Teck Hui believes that the “mismatch between the 1,812 private homes launched and the 1,054 units sold in March sent a clear message that there is a lack of demand to absorb so much supply being placed”.

“Most of the projects launched in March suffered weak take-up rates. Taking the cue, developers turned cautious and scaled back their launches in April to avoid poor sales progress in their projects,” he noted.

As an indication of weaker sentiment, 2,573 units were sold during the first four months of this year while 3,433 units were launched, said CBRE South-east Asia head of research Desmond Sim.

This is in comparison to 2,360 units sold during the same period last year, with 1,732 units launched, he said.

However, other analysts are giving a more positive outlook.

Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore at Colliers International, believes that despite the decline of sales month-on-month, the April figures are relatively decent given that far fewer units were launched.

Meanwhile, with the inclusion of executive condominiums, developers managed to sell 744 new units last month. This is about 30 percent lower compared to 1,062 units in March, and down 44 percent from 1,329 units in April last year.